Saturday, April 18, 2009

Looking at the Lyrics by Simon and Garfunkel

A friend posted a youtube of Sounds of Silence and I listened to it again again and again -- the music and the lyrics. I needed to see only the lyrics and get closer to their meaning. So, here it is for you too.

This song may have been written decades ago, but it is poignant still. I think we are usually only comfortable in silence when the thoughts are positive. We have a hard time with the conflicts in our minds. Yet, through the conflict and suffering, we can gain clarity and accept ourselves and others in our imperfect-ness. Perhaps a poem can change your life. I am researching the silence I lived in Paris as I reconstruct my past life when I went there to study mime. This poem is research about the quietness.

The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel


Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

6 comments:

Chris Never said...

This song was one of the most inspiring lyrics I heard as a youth, it gave me my first thirst for poetry, reading it, writing it, hearing it.

I still love it

nancy said...

Chris -

I also love this song. Thank you for visiting. I see you also titled your blog ELATIOn and I read some of your recent poetry. Very beautiful! How did you find my blog?

Nancy

Chris Never said...

Truth to tell Nancy, I was idling around Google typing in Elation Blog to see if mine popped up , which it didn't , but yours did :)

I couldn't resist having a look at a blog with the same name as mine, thanks for dropping in and having a look see at my pages. *smile*

hellophotokitty said...

reading these words, so poignant, so true, so meditative...

nancy said...

hellophotokitty,

Hi. Glad you stopped by again. You are inspiring me to continue my blog. I miss the interactiveness. Yeah...these lyrics are amazing...it seems like the truth is transported...really perfectly express the sounds of silence.

Doing any photography lately? Would love to see more of your work.
xo,
Nancy

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